By TwoCircles.net Special Correspondent,
Lucknow: State government’s application to withdraw case against Khalid Mujahid and Tariq Qasmi in connection with seizure of explosives after the 2007 Gorakhpur blasts was rejected by a local court in Barabanki on Friday.
Meanwhile cabinet minister Azam Khan in Lucknow stated that the state government will appeal against the Barabanki’s court decision. “It is a routine matter. It is not the last court and we will file an appeal against the decision,” he stated.
As per the reports of PTI news agency, the Special Sessions Judge (SC/ST) Kalpana Mishra rejected the application moved by the government on April 26 to withdraw cases against Tariq Kasmi and Khalid Mujahid.
Later Kasmi’s counsel Randheer Singh Suman stated that the government had said in its application that it wanted to withdraw the case in public interest and for the sake of communal harmony, but had not elaborated on both the points.
The court said the government did not file an affidavit with the application and despite being a confidential document, it was given openly instead of in a sealed envelope, Suman said. On the basis of these three points, the court rejected the government’s application.
The government on April 24 had said it had withdrawn case against Kasmi, an accused in Gorakhpur blasts, and had requested the court to drop charges against him.
The blast took place in May 2007 at Golghar crossing through a bomb planted in a cycle. Six persons were injured in the blast. The Special Task Force of UP Police had arrested the two alleged Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami operatives from near Barabanki railway station with explosives.
After coming to power, the SP government had announced to the review cases against “innocent” youths lodged in jail on charges of attacks in Rampur as well as in serial blasts in courts of Faizabad, Barabanki, Lucknow and also in Gorakhpur and Varanasi blasts.
Meanwhile, Rihai Manch (Forum for the Release of Innocent Muslims imprisoned in the name of Terrorism), has criticized the UP government for not putting forth facts in front of the court.
Chairman of the Manch, Mohammad Shoaib alleged that the state government evaded facts, and instead played with words to misguide Muslims. Referring to the Nimesh Commission report, Shoaib added that instead of putting forth the report and explaining the doubts raised in it, the government is playing petty politics.
The state government pleaded in the court that it has decided to set the two accused free to “promote communal harmony and public interest”.